-ExxonMobil has shut down a fluid catalytic cracking unit at its Baytown, Texas, refinery for planned maintenance. Via Reuters, the work is expected to continue for the next several weeks.
-Houston-based Appalachian Resins will lease 50 acres in Salem Township, Ohio, to build a new ethylene/polyethylene plant, Downstream Today reports. The company had initially planned to build its facility in West Virginia, but the original site is not large enough to accommodate the planned 600-million-pounds-per-year facility. The $1 billion integrated facility is slated to come online in 2019.
-Refiners and marketers are mounting an effort to weaken the Jones Act, a 1920 law that requires all vessels shipping cargo between U.S. locations to be built in the U.S. Via Platts, lobbying groups are seeking changes to the law such as the requirement that a vessel must be crewed by at least 75% U.S. citizens. The refining industry has long been critical of the rule, asserting it drives up costs for motor fuels and stymies the movement of crude oil between U.S. ports. Repealing the law is thought to be unrealistic given its support in Congress and in the maritime industry.
-Centurion Pipeline’s plan to reverse its 60,000-barrels-per-day pipeline may help ease the current bottleneck of Permian Basin crude, Reuters reports. A lack of infrastructure in the booming Permian has caused crude delivered from Midland, Texas, to be traded at a discount relative to Cushing, Okla.-delivered oil.
-Cimarex Energy agreed to sell $326 million in oil and gas assets, including 4,200 net acres and associated wells in the Midland Basin. Cimarex is also selling non-core properties in the Mid-Continent and Gulf Coast regions. The sales are expected to close on or before Sept. 30.
